


Coping Mechanisms

by NovaNara



Series: The AU series [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: AO3 1 Million, Characters Writing Fanfiction, Gen, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 18:11:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1194663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaNara/pseuds/NovaNara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the Hiatus, Sherlock takes advantage of his fanbase's writing compulsion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coping Mechanisms

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.   
> A.N. I make some harsh statements about our fanworks. I'd like to point out that every critique I made is first of all directed to myself, and that I never intended to offend anyone. Written quickly and not betaed, I'm sorry for any errors.

Someday, when he's allowed to be back (to Baker Street, home, _John_ ) Sherlock should really thank him for starting to blog about him and unknowingly creating their fanbase. He won't, naturally. It would be out of character, for one, and Sherlock can't in good conscience encourage John's literary penchant. Though after having read a few works of their devoted fans (still devoted, despite Moriarty's plot, and isn't that the most unexplainable thing?) John's blog begins to look worthy of a Nobel prize for Literature in comparison. Some fanfictions out there bear not even a passing resemblance to the English language, and don't get him started about the plotlines (when they exist).

 

Now, you'd think that the last thing Sherlock would spend time doing, during his Hiatus (Hiatus, because it _has to be_ temporary), would be browsing fanfictions about his life. There's an actual reason for that. The same reason for many things in Sherlock's life, in truth. Mycroft is annoying. He insists to be apprised of Sherlock's progresses in his self-appointed mission against Moriarty's web.they needed a safe way to comunicate, and adopted the old trick of hiding something in plain sight, among a plethora of similar items. The chance that their enemies will take notice of a new casefic on a fanfiction-sharing website is almost nihil. (Almost, because people can be weird.)

 

So Sherlock has had to read a few fanfictions to understand the clichés of the genre, and write reports who would not stand out, attracting the least possible attention. He left quite a number of scathing reviews, too, but he really couldn't help it. He has an account now, under the name Draugen, because every disguise is a self portrait. The Draugen is the restless, angry corpse of Norse mythology (zombie simply wasn't right – he's not _brainless_ ), likely to mercilessly drive mad, curse and kill people. Sherlock is decidedly going to do that (except the curse, obviously.) It's when he read that a draugen's actions stem from the longing for the life the dead once had, and – a line later – "this desire for the friendship experienced in life" that the nickname choice was sealed. That is true too (how very much so). Really, what other name could he have picked?

 

He hunts, destroying crime ring after crime ring, and then he writes casefics about it. John won't be able to say anymore that Sherlock, for all his spite of the blog's writing style, has nothing better than his friend's posts to show. He writes cases how they should be written. He can't boast many reviews, definitely not John's number of fan, but that is fine. Only the reviews of Mycroft's assistant (nickname: toomanychoices) matter anyway. Sherlock doesn't exactly write what happens, that's true. The literary conventions of the genre require him to write as if John were by his side. But his inner John monologue is almost perfect, he likes to think, and to be perfectly honest that is one convention that Sherlock doesn't mind. Just the opposite. Pretending that John is still with him is the greatest comfort he's allowed.

 

His life is not all hunts and adrenaline-fuelled chases, sadly. There is the time in between, having dismantled one cell and waiting to find the next, or when he's left stranded without a vital clue and can do nothing but dawdle until he finds it. Back home it was bad. Here and now (wherever 'here' happens to be) it is pure torment. When he has no other focus, all his unsightly _feelings_ rear up their head and do their best to choke him. Tear him apart from the inside out. Before, he would have turned to his violin. It was wordless, which made it safe, and somehow it took all these uncontrollable, ugly instincts and made them into something beautiful and – mostly – acceptable. It made them quiet down for a short while too. His violin is not by his side anymore (not that it would survive his current lifestyle) and Sherlock has no idea what to do. No drugs, he needs to stay sharp for whenever a lead may come. No harming himself in any way (Moriarty's goons do enough of that on their own.) but if he doesn't find an outlet, he'll spontaneously combust, he's sure.

 

A temptation teases his mind. What would happen if, for once, he did give words to these unreasonable desires? Would it really be disastrous when there's no one that matters to hear them? God knows that not all fanfictions are casefics. In truth, he would be disturbed by some of the things many people imagine about his sex life if he could be assed to care. As it is, he has no more than a fleeting wish for Sheriarty fans to meet Jim at his best. Just to see if the'd continue shipping him afterwards. Maybe they would. Some people are mad.

 

But back to the matter at hand. He needs to put his feelings somewhere before they break him. A fanfiction is not a worse place than his other options. So he opens a different account (named thisaccountisdefective, not much fantasy there) on a different fanfiction site. Can't risk Mycroft stumbling over it after all. He finally gives words to his secret wishes. He writes AU, always. Because in _this_ universe there is no place for what he's harbouring. Sherlock is only too aware of that.

 

But if the very laws of the universe are warped – with human-animal hybrids around, or supernatural creatures living on Earth – then maybe even his wants could become true. Impulsively, he uploaded his writings. Half of him was – more than a bit masochistically – waiting for people to review complaining about how absurd this was, or to remember him that 'John Watson isn't even gay for Chrissakes!' Maybe that was what he needed. Strangers tearing up his pipe dreams (if only because upset by _his_ reviews). Perhaps that, coupled with the distance, would manage to put them definitely to rest. Not that there was much hope of that ever happening.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. This fic was born by a note on The Vision (beautiful Soulmate AU fic) by cloud wolfsbane. It mentioned things that made me comment: "Sherlock? Are you writing that?" I changed the nickname because I want to write my own version of many AUs and this sounded like a good prologue to that. I will write said AUs sparsely, in random moments, but I will write them.


End file.
